PPA 500 (Section 1) -- THESIS SEMINAR

GRADUATE PROGRAM IN PUBLIC POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO

Fall 2003

Professor: Rob Wassmer, Ph.D.

E-Mail: rwassme@csus.edu or rwassme@attbi.com

Home Page: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/w/wassmerr

Office: Room 3037, Tahoe Hall

Office Phone: (916) 278 - 6304

Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.; and by appointment if necessary

Course Held: 8 Saturdays throughout semester (September 6, 20, 27; October 4, 18; November 1, 15; December 6), 9 a.m. to 12 noon, Tahoe 1027

NOTE THAT MANY OF THE WEB LINKS NEED TO BE ACCESSED USING A SAC LINK ACCOUNT OR A CSUS COMPUTER

Required Material:

(1) CSUS Guide For Thesis/Project Format, Latest Edition, Office of Research and Graduate Studies, CSUS,

available for purchase at bookstore or free on web at http://www.csus.edu/gradstudies/forms/manual.PDF ;

(2) A Pocket Style Manual, 2000, Diana Hacker, Third Edition, Bedford Books;

available for purchase at bookstore or on web at Amazon.Com.;

(3) How to Write a Thesis, 2002 (5th Edition), Harry Teitelbaum, Thomson Arco;

available for purchase at bookstore or on web at Amazon.Com.;

(4) Urban Sprawl: Causes, Consequences and Policy Responses, 2002, Edited by Gregory D. Squires, Urban Institute Pres Press;

available for purchase at bookstore or on web at Amazon.Com ;

(5) Redefining Urban and Suburban America, 2003 (Volume 1), Edited by Bruce Katz and Robert Lang, Brookings;

available for purchase at bookstore or on web at Amazon.Com ;

(6) Writing Literature Reviews, 1999, 1999, Jose Galvin, Pyrczak Publishing;

available for purchase at bookstore or on web at Amazon.Com ;

You will need to buy all required books in the summer of 2003 and begin reading before our first meeting. There are other readings that are featured below, but they will be provided to you in a different manner.  When a reading assignment for a particular class meeting is given, the text should be brought to the class meeting.

Internet Access:

Occasionally I will also ask you to read material from the Internet. Thus, access to the Internet is also required for this class. If you do not have it at work or home, access is provided to students at the university library.

Objective:

To provide faculty and peer guidance in preparation of material to satisfy the Master’s thesis requirement. This includes clarification of general program expectations, familiarization with research resources, and basic support in a structured environment of feedback.

Method:

This course is designed such that all enrolled students will work on a topic of their choosing that relates to either a cause or consequence of urban sprawl in the United States over the period 1990 to 2000.  This opportunity exists because I am interested in this research topic and have applied for a U.S. Housing and Urban Development grant to study it.  (Be certain that you have read my proposal as background information.)   This is the second group Master's project that I will conduct as a PPA faculty member.  The first was sponsored by the California Integrated Waste Management Board.  The final report from this study can be found at http://www.csus.edu/indiv/w/wassmerr/tirestudy.pdf .  Given the relative success that PPA Master's students had in completing their thesis in a timely manner, and the real world research experience it conveyed, I have decided to try another.

All students enrolled will be required to write their own individual thesis on the topic of a cause or consequence of sprawl. The course will be structured such that each meeting on Saturday deals with another aspect of the tasks necessary to complete the thesis.  The benefits of this group approach are that the path to thesis completion is well laid out and one semester of hard work will get it done. You will have the support of others who are looking at the same issue and meeting at least bi-weekly to discuss it. You will also be completing this project in an environment that is very similar to what is done in the real world.

I would estimate that besides the 3 hours of classroom time required each time we meet, this course will require at least an additional 8 hours a week of work outside of classroom.

Prerequisite:

You must have completed PPA 220A and 207 to be enrolled in this course.  In addition, you must have completed all of the core courses in the Public Policy and Administration Program (PPA 200, 205, 207, 210, 220A, 220B, 230, 240) with at least a B- in each course and an average grade of B or better in all. The one exception is that you are taking your final required core course(s) this semester or next.

PPA 500B:

Those who began the program in the fall of 1998 or later, and who do not complete their entire thesis by the time that PPA500B is offered in January 2004, will be required to enroll in PPA500B.

Background Reading:

Defining sprawl

Brueckner, Jan K. (2000), "Urban Sprawl: Diagnosis and Remedies," A Critical Issues Paper, University of Illinois: Institute of Government and Public Affairs.  Available at http://www.igpa.uiuc.edu/publications/pdf/sprawl.pdf .

Fulton, William et al. (2001), "Who Sprawls Most?  How Growth Patterns Differ Across the U.S.," Survey Series, Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution.  Available at http://www.brookings.org/es/urban/publications/fulton.pdf .

Galster, George et. al (2001), "Wrestling Sprawl to the Ground: Defining and Measuring an Elusive Concept," Housing Policy Debate, 12(4), pp. 681-717.  Available at http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/pdf/proc_fairgrowth_galster2.pdf .

Wassmer, Robert W. (2002), "Defining Excessive Decentralization in California and Other Western States," California Senate Office of Research.  Available at http://www.sen.ca.gov/sor/reports/comm_studies/SPRAWLREPORT1.PDF .

Wasserman, Miriam (2000), "Urban Sprawl," Regional Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.  Available at http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/nerr/rr2000/q1/wass00_1.htm .

Opinions on sprawl

Bank of America (1997), "Beyond Sprawl: New Patterns of Growth to Fit the New California," San Francisco, CA.  Available at http://www.mclw.org/pages/perspectives/sprawlreport.htm .

Ewing, Reid (Winter, 1997), "Is Los-Angeles-Style Sprawl Desirable?," APA Journal, pp. 107-126.  Available at http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?Did=000000010673126&Fmt=3&Deli=1&Mtd=1&Idx=29&Sid=2&RQT=309 .

Gordon, Peter and Harry W. Richardson (2000), "Critiquing Sprawl's Critics," Policy Analysis (365), Cato Institute.  Available at http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa365.pdf .

Katz, Bruce (December, 1999), "Divided We Sprawl," The Atlantic Monthly.  Available at http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/99dec/9912katz.htm .

Mills, Edwin S. (Summer, 1999), "Truly Smart 'Smart Growth'," Illinois Real Estate Letter, Office of Real Estate Research, University of Illinois.  Available at http://www.business.uiuc.edu/orer/V13-3-1.pdf .

The New Democrat (March/April, 1999),  Issue devoted to "Sprawl: The Revolt in America's Suburbs."  Available at  http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=102&subid=103&contentid=2255 .

PPIC (November, 2002), Special Survey on Land Use, San Francisco, CA.  Available at http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/S_1102MBS.pdf.

Sowell, Thomas (Summer, 1999), "The Brawl over So-Called Sprawl," llinois Real Estate Letter, Office of Real Estate Research, University of Illinois.  Available at http://www.business.uiuc.edu/orer/V13-3-2.pdf .

Causes of sprawl

Brueckner, Jan K. and David A. Fansler (1983), "The Economics of Urban Sprawl: Theory and Evidence on the Spatial Size of Cities," The Review of Economics and Statistics, 65(3), 479-482.  Available at http://www.jstor.org/cgi-bin/jstor/printpage/00346535/di953023/95p01205/0.pdf?userID=8256b918@csus.edu/01cc99333c0050d39564&backcontext=results&config=jstor&dowhat=Acrobat&0.pdf

Brueckner, Jan K. (2000), "Urban Sprawl: Lessons from Urban Economics," Working Paper, Department of Economics, University of Illinois.  Available at http://www.business.uiuc.edu/jbrueckn/lessons.pdf .

Brueckner, Jan K. (2000), "Urban Sprawl and the Property Tax," Working Paper, Department of Economics, University of Illinois.  Available at http://www.igpa.uillinois.edu/publications/workingPapers/WP84-sprawltax.pdf .

Glaeser, Edward L. and Mathew E. Kahn (2003), "Sprawl and Urban Growth," NBER Working Paper 9733, Cambridge, MA.  Available at http://papers.nber.org/papers/w9733.pdf .

Green, Richard K. (July 1999), "Nine Causes of Sprawl," Working Paper, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin School of Business.  Available at http://www.bus.wisc.edu/realestate/pdf/pdf/9908.pdf .

Lang, Robert E. (2003), "Open Spaces, Bounded Places: Does the American West's Arid Landscape Yield Dense Metropolitan Growth?" Housing Policy Debate, 13(4), pp. 755- 778.  Available at http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/hpd_1304_lang.pdf .

Mieszkowski, Peter and Edwin S. Mills (1993).  "The Causes of Metropolitan Suburbanization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7(3), pp. 135-147.  Available at  http://www.jstor.org/cgi-bin/jstor/printpage/08953309/di980576/98p0115z/0.pdf?userID=8256b918@csus.edu/01cc99333c0050d39564&backcontext=results&config=jstor&dowhat=Acrobat&0.pdf

Pendall, Rolf, et al. (2002).  "Holding the Line: Urban Containment in the United States," Discussion Paper, Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution.  Available at http://www.brookings.org/dybdocroot/es/urban/publications/pendallfultoncontainment.pdf .

Wassmer, Robert W. (2002), "Fiscalization of Land Use, Urban Growth Boundaries, and Non-Central Retail Sprawl in the Western United States," Urban Studies, 39 (8), pp. 1307-1327.  Available at http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/app/home/content.asp?wasp=g19tay35d84qqlc8766u&referrer=contribution&format=2&page=1 .

Consequences of Sprawl

Downs, Anthony (2002), "Have Housing Prices Risen Faster in Portland than Elsewhere?" Housing Policy Debate, 13(1), pp. 7-31.  Available at http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/hpd_1301_downs.pdf .

Downs, Anthony (1999), "Some Realities about Sprawl and Urban Decline," Housing Policy Debate, 10(4), pp. 955- 974.  Available at http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/hpd_1004_downs.pdf .

Glaeser, Edward L. and Mathew E. Kahn (2003), "Sprawl and Urban Growth," NBER Working Paper 9733, Cambridge, MA.  Available at http://papers.nber.org/papers/w9733.pdf .

Kahn, Mathew E. (2001), "Does Sprawl Reduce the Black/White Housing Consumption Gap?" Housing Policy Debate, 12(1), pp. 77-86.  Available at http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/hpd_1201_kahn.pdf .

Peiser, Richard B. (1989), "Density and Urban Sprawl," Land Economics, 65(3), pp. 193-204.  Available at http://web2.infotrac-custom.com/pdfserve/get_item/1/Sbbd4acw3_1/SB676_01.pdf .

Sierra Club (2000), "Sprawl Costs Us All,"  Washington, D.C.  Available at http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/report00/sprawl.pdf .

Data Descriptions:

1990 Description of U.S. Census designated "urbanized area":  http://www.census.gov/td/stf3/append_a.html#URBANIZED%20AREA .

1990 Technical Documentation of Census STF3 Data File: http://www.census.gov/td/stf3/contents.html .

1990 Retrieval of STF3 Data: http://homer.ssd.census.gov/cdrom/lookup/CMD=LIST/DB=C90STF3A/LEV=STATE .

1990 List of U.S. Census designated "urbanized area": http://landview.census.gov/geo/www/1990uas.pdf .

2000 Description of U.S. Census designated "urbanized area":  http://www.census.gov/geo/www/ua/ua_2k.html .

2000 Technical Documentation of Census STF3 Data File: http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf .

2000 Retrieval of STF3 Data: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTGeoSearchByListServlet?ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&_lang=en&_ts=74540422096 .

2000 List of Urbanized Areas and Central Places: http://www.census.gov/geo/www/ua/ctrlplace.html .

2000 Geographic Info: http://landview.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/glossary.html#footnote3 .

Differences Between 1990 and 2000 Census Definition of Urbanized Area: http://landview.census.gov/geo/www/ua/uac2k_90.html .

Schedule:

The following schedule lists the major topics covered and the assigned reading that accompanies them. I reserve the right to make minor changes and additions to the following schedule.  Students will responsible for making a 10 minute presentation that summarizes articles in black.  For the first meeting, I have assigned articles to students.  For later meetings, students will pick articles.  I will present material in blue.   Assignments that are due are in red.

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